Friday, March 6, 1998
Filling in the blank
Jeff Blank more than fulfills the duties required of a sports
information director, getting publicity for UCLA’s baseball
team
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
People call him Jeff Blank. The baseball players have nicknamed
him SID. You, the regular fan, probably don’t even know he
exists.
Since Blank works behind the scenes, the common fan is not
expected to be familiar with him. He’s the sports information
director (SID) for the baseball team. His job is to get the team
the publicity it deserves. He must also make sure every home game
runs smoothly. Blank must deal with media requests, painstakingly
punch in all the statistics into a computer after every game is
over, and on top of all that, he must go to class.
Blank works at least 60 to 70 hours a week on baseball alone,
and the select few who are aware of his contribution to the team
let their appreciation be known.
"He’s loved by the players on this team," UCLA baseball head
coach Gary Adams explained. "He isn’t just plain and simply liked.
They love him because they see a guy so unselfishly dedicated to
his job. What rewards does he get? He’s a special guy.
"Hey, if we were better looking, I’d let him marry my
daughter."
Within the UCLA Sports Information Department, there are 10
SID’s assigned to the many sports at the university. The head of
the department is Marc Dellins – a former baseball SID himself.
Dellins is the media relations director and contact for two
premiere sports – football and men’s basketball.
"My job is to supervise the employees in the office, plus I work
on sports myself," Dellins, who interacts with Athletic Director
Pete Dalis on a daily basis, said. "Our goal is to try and create
maximum publicity opportunity for all of the various sports at
UCLA."
Dellins supervises three other students and six non-students.
The non-students are Elaine Adams (women’s volleyball, tennis),
Bill Bennett (men’s basketball, cross country and track and field),
Rich Bertolucci (men’s volleyball, golf), Liza David (men’s soccer,
women’s basketball, gymnastics), Danny Harrington (softball,
swimming) and Steve Rourke (football, women’s basketball).
The three students are Shira Andron (women’s soccer), Blank
(baseball) and Shana Silberman (water polo).
***
When Blank was a freshman at UCLA four years ago, he knew that
he wanted to be affiliated with sports in some manner.
Early in the fall of 1994, Blank was looking for a copy of the
Daily Bruin. He thought the sports section was a completely
different paper, because he believed the back page was actually the
front page of a different paper. So it took him a while before he
found a Bruin stand where the paper was turned over and showed the
sports section.
Then he saw an ad for a baseball "SID" and inquired about the
position at the Morgan Center. The appeal of a job where you’re
asked to attend baseball games on a regular basis and travel with
the team to places like Hawaii was enough to make him commit to the
position.
But like every dream job, the description is far better than the
job itself. Blank had no idea just how much work being an SID
entailed, and the glamour of being around athletes dissipates when
one finds out about a typical weekend.
"This is not glamorous because people don’t want to be doing
this," Blank explained. "When the team is home for the weekend, my
weekend is shot. I am getting up at six in the morning to prepare
the program, and sitting in the press box on a freezing Friday
night while trying to fax results to papers trying to meet a
deadline."
Blank has spearheaded a huge turnaround in the baseball SID
front. His 1997 media guide was voted No. 1 in the district, and he
always seems to go a step beyond his duties. Blank has outshined
his predecessor John Dolak.
"Oh, (Blank is) easily (better)," senior second baseman Nick
Theodorou, who was at UCLA while Dolak was the baseball SID, said.
"Best one in the country. You could ask him about stats two years
ago and he’d still remember them … There’s no doubt that he works
harder than anyone else behind the scenes."
On Tuesday, the day of UCLA’s 21-5 loss to Long Beach State,
Blank was in the office immediately after his 9 a.m. class. Then
from about 10 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., Blank was in his Morgan Center
office, working on the program and other random things.
He punches in a barrage of statistics into a Macintosh computer
while answering phone calls from the outside. That particular day
an impromptu meeting was held to brainstorm for an athlete who has
something hard to overcome.
NBC is looking for local athletes with feel-good stories, and
Blank immediately thinks of getting some publicity for senior
pitcher John Phillips. After undergoing Tommy John surgery to
repair damage to his throwing elbow, Phillips has made a miraculous
recovery and Blank could help him get more recognition with a
story. Therefore, Blank calls the respective people at NBC and
after a brief conversation, will fax over a brief Phillips
synopsis. Blank prides himself on seeing his players get
publicity.
"I definitely think he does a good job," Harrington said. "After
the game people write a summary of the game. Well, Jeff writes like
four recaps involving different players, and faxes it over to their
hometown. That takes a lot of time and effort."
After the release is pretty much done and game time approaches,
the coach stops by around 2 p.m. Blank and Adams talk for a little
while, before Adams must get going to prepare for the game. Once 4
p.m. approaches, Blank goes to his apartment to pick up his fax
machine. Then he goes directly to the field, where more duties
await.
Blank deals with the media, UCLA coaches, players and the
opposing team’s SID while at Jackie Robinson Stadium. He is also
the PA announcer, and must keep the stats so that the box score is
promptly available after the game. Finally, he must answer phone
calls – usually a parent calling to find out how their son is
doing.
"Jeff Blank is a great guy and he’s been real fun with (my phone
calls)," Victor Santora said. Santora, who called three times
before the first inning ended on Tuesday, is arguably the parent
who calls most often. "We kid and joke with each other. And
usually, if it’s not too busy, he’ll talk to me. We’ve got a real
good running thing going."
Once the game is over, Blank stays in the press box during a
freezing Tuesday. He faxes recaps to the L.A. Times, the Associated
Press, Baseball America and other media outlets.
Sometimes Blank is in the press box by himself, even after the
coach goes home.
He must sometimes drop or reschedule classes because of the many
games he must attend. But for the past four years, Blank has made
it to all 208 games, making him the "Cal Ripken Jr" of SID’s – only
senior outfielder Eric Byrnes can claim perfect attendance along
with Blank (Coach Adams was suspended for four games at the end of
the 1996 season).
"I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’m the only student in
the country that runs baseball on a full-time basis and travels
with the team," Blank said. "It’s a very time-consuming job. It’s a
lot of stuff. Some of it is not brain work. But it’s very
time-consuming when you’re a student."
When the Bruins made the College World Series last year, Blank
experienced a new level of chaos. The phone was ringing off the
hook, and everyone wanted to talk to star shortstop Troy Glaus (now
with the Anaheim Angels).
Throughout all the madness, Blank has still managed to be
accepted to law school. He hopes to someday work for a professional
team, or become involved with contract law.
"If someone could do it, I think Jeff could," Rick Thorpe, the
marketing director for the UCLA baseball team, said. "He totally
dives into anything he wants to work on. I heard him talking about
spending all of his time studying on the plane back and forth when
they took their trip to Hawaii or any other road trips. If he’s not
in the office working on baseball issues, he’s at home or in the
library studying on his classes."
Blank has almost perfected the job of baseball SID. He does
things that Adams never even thought of asking a SID do – including
scouting and follow-ups on players who have graduated or left for
the major leagues.
"I’ve been here a long time and I’ve had some good ones," Adams
said. "I never thought there could be anybody better than my very
first one: Marc Dellins. Marc was superb, but ‘SID’, I gotta say
even in front of Marc Dellins – and he’ll read this in the paper –
I give the slight edge to SID."
Adams compared Blank and Dellins to Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio –
with the slight edge going to Ruth.
Blank may be back next season, as he’s contemplating taking a
year off school to put more time into baseball. He hopes to train
the next baseball SID in 1999 and make the transition less
tumultuous. Players, though, believe no one can take their SID’s
place.
"We would absolutely love to have SID around (next year),"
pitcher Rob Henkel, Blank’s roommate during the College World
Series, said. "The next Sports Information Director will be nothing
compared to this guy. He’s done so much for this program, and we’d
be lost without him."DAVID HILL
Baseball Sports Information Director Jeff Blank announces during
a baseball game.